


Where There's Smoke

by DixieDale



Category: Clan O'Donnell - Fandom, Garrison's Gorillas
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-12
Updated: 2018-09-12
Packaged: 2019-07-11 11:56:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,315
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15971828
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DixieDale/pseuds/DixieDale
Summary: Smoke and fire - it seemed her past two days had been filled with it in one way or another.  When Lieutenant Craig Garrison's younger sister, Lynn, tired and frustrated, shows up in Brandonshire seeking refuge on a chilly night, she wasn't expecting to find even more of the same. Somehow the old saying 'where there's smoke, there's fire' was taking on a whole new perspective.War years





	Where There's Smoke

Lynn Garrison pulled up outside her flat, got out and stretched. She was weary, to say the least; weary, frustrated, highly annoyed. She had a rather long list of words that would apply, actually.

It had been a long, difficult mission, and a smoke and flame-filled extraction, followed by a long and uncomfortable debriefing from someone who couldn't even quite figure out what her mission had been, much less understand the report she'd brought back. It was bad enough the man was chain-smoking in the tiny office, enough so that the air was thick, but beyond that, Lieutenant Flanders kept asking the most absurd, totally senseless questions about the situation in Amsterdam, in particular the port fortifications; how the bloody hell should she know???! She'd been in Baden-Wurttemberg, for Pete's sake! She'd stressed that point, and the man's jaw had actually dropped, and he'd uttered a bewildered, "But . . . Why?"

She'd ended up pulling the file away from him in total frustration and looked at it in disbelief. "Maybe, Lieutenant, if you'd pulled the 'Lynn Garrison' file, instead of the 'Lyle Gorman' file, you would have a better understanding? Just a suggestion, of course!" Why they put idiots in positions like that, she never would figure out; she'd been perhaps overly-blunt on that subject, both to the hapless Lieutenant and then again when she'd run into Kevin Richards in the hallway at HQ a little later. In fact, she was pretty sure of that, since Kevin's parting words had been "you sound more and more like Meghada every day, Lynn! Being 'subtle' is not a character flaw, I must tell you! There are some who actually consider it a POSITIVE trait!" She'd just snarled at him, "well, I doubt any of them have to deal with *@#*&*#@ HQ, or they'd change their minds bloody quick!!!" Perhaps a little harsh, but there was no doubt in any of the several fascinated observers that she meant every word of it!

Now she wanted a bath and her bed, hoping to wash off at least some of the accumulated smoke and grime, cynically thinking she'd probably have to clear away stockings and a few other items before she could have that bath; before she'd left, her downstairs neighbors, self-declared new 'friends' Mary Ellen and Elsie had asked if they could use her bath since theirs was only at a trickle. She wasn't really in the market for any new friends or for sharing her bath, but she was determined to be a good sport, so she'd reluctantly agreed, given them a spare key, but asked them to clean up after themselves and keep the place locked up. Now, she'd found her flat occupied by those two 'friends' who'd taken advantage of her prolonged absence to throw what appeared to be one hell of a pajama party. Or was it an orgy? Whichever, it seemed to involve a lot of semi-clad bodies!

Mary Ellen had tried to stall her at the door, which was a bit much considering it WAS her apartment. A stammered, "but you KNOW how tiny our flat is, Lynn! Surely . . ." Her suspicions turning into certainty {"where there's smoke, there's fire!"}, Lynn had pushed past, had taken one look at the assorted bodies, clad and unclad, the empty bottles, overflowing ashtrays, the mounds of trash, and after issuing a few shrill demands accompanied by a few dire and fervently meant threats, just turned and slammed the door behind her and headed for Brandonshire to pour out her grievances to her big brother. The phone lines had been down due to that last bombing raid, but Kevin had said he thought the team was in residence. She really hoped so; she needed to complain loud and vociferously to SOMEONE!!

She'd driven up to the Mansion gates, been allowed inside, only to find the Sergeant Major and, from the voices she could hear, {"I know that's Casino yelling,"} the team occupying the space, but no big brother.

"Away for the evening on business, miss. Perhaps if you could stop back by in the morning?" She'd known the Sergeant Major would be most uncomfortable if she asked to stay there for the night, what with Craig being gone, even though she had a room she used frequently enough she had spare clothes stored there, so she'd thanked him and driven back to Brandonshire.

She hadn't intended to intrude, really she hadn't. She'd first gone to the pub, thinking to take a room there, and found a kitchen fire had smoked up the place so bad the bedrooms above the pub were uninhabitable til they were thoroughly aired out. So, instead of turning around and making that long drive back up to London, (the only other option being sleeping in her car, which was possible but hardly comfortable), she'd thought to spend the night with Meghada, on that Murphy bed she knew the redhead had in her office. Even if Meghada wasn't there, once inside that garden gate Lynn knew where she kept the key to the kitchen door; knew there would be no question of her being welcome to spend the night either way.

She walked over from the pub, thinking the car would be just fine where it was, not wanting to get the smell of the smoke inside the car, since her clothes now reeked much more even than before, thinking the air would perhaps clear her head from the aggravation and the smoke. When she got to the Cottage it was just past dusk; the blackout shades were properly in place so that no lights showed, but she could hear just a faint trace of music from inside, something low and rich and sultry, jazz at its best.

She'd been concerned when she'd seen the jeep, parked not in the car park to the side of the cottage, but far around back, out of sight of the road; it was the one her brother usually used, and yet the Sergeant Major had said Craig was away for the evening on business. What would he be doing here? Was there a joint mission in the works? She did hope nothing was wrong.

She inhaled the rich aroma of the garden, flowers and herbs intermingling freely, thinking it a vast improvement to the overwhelming smell of smoke, though it seemed she'd brought that smell with her; she was pretty sure her clothes were going to still reek tomorrow, as well as her hair. In fact, the smell of smoke seemed to define this day!

The tall metal gate to the garden was locked, which was most unusual, and now Lynn WAS starting to worry. Meghada rarely locked that gate if she was home. She pulled the bell chain, heard the kitchen door open then close again.

"Aye, and who is it?" came a soft voice, and then when she'd answered, a quick, "Lynn? What on earth??" Lynn was relieved to see Meghada, or at least that shadow with Meghada's voice, but there was a hesitation there. Certainly, there seemed no rush to unlock that gate and welcome her in, as Lynn had thought would happen. {"Perhaps it wasn't Craig who drove the jeep over; perhaps it was Goniff, and she's not comfortable with me here, seeing him here. Surely she knows I know about the two of them . . ."}, she thought, puzzled.

"I came begging lodging, since the Mansion and the pub seem to be out of the question, but if you have company . . ." she started, awkwardly.

"No, just, wait a moment, please; I'll get the key and unlock the gate," and the shadow turned and dashed back inside, closing the door behind her. From the looks of it, Meghada had been in a flowing housecoat, not her usual attire for so early in the evening. {"I'm afraid I really AM interrupting something,"} Lynn thought to herself, schooling her face to conceal that thought; she didn't want to cause any embarrassment.

It took longer than you would have thought to locate a key that usually hung right beside the kitchen door, but then Meghada was back, the gate swung open, and Lynn was ushered in. She noted that she'd either been mistaken, or the woman had taken the time to change, since she was wearing not a housecoat, but a long full skirt and shirtwaist top. She wondered if she should mention that the top was slightly misbuttoned, but decided against it.

"I know it's an imposition; I really should have called from the pub, but there was so much smoke, Lou just rushed me right back out again. A kitchen fire; nothing too bad, but they'll be awhile getting the place cleaned up and useable, I think. Do you . . ." 

Her voice trailed off as she recognized the, not one but TWO men ensconced in the big chairs in the sitting area. {"Goniff AND Craig?? I wonder if there IS something wrong!"} But there didn't appear to be any tension, well, not exactly. There DID seem to be some sort of undercurrent, but nothing like there had been a quarrel or as if Craig had been giving Goniff a dressing down for some mischief or anything like that; not even as if she'd interrupted the hashing out of some mission they'd all three play a part in. Just, something . . .

For one thing, Craig seemed awfully casual, far more relaxed in his posture than usual, his jacket missing, his shirt unbuttoned for at least the top two buttons, cuffs undone, his hair slightly mussed. For some reason, his hat was in the basket beside the door, not on the rack where you would have thought it would have been hung. Goniff looked much the same as usual, though, had his most vacuous expression firmly plastered on his face, innocent blue eyes shining at her. Except it looked like he might have been running his hands through his hair as well, just slightly out of order. {"And just where on earth did he get those clothes??! Well-fitting jeans, denim shirt - my oh my, what a difference that makes! And he seems to have forgotten a few buttons along the way, too!"} Lynn found confusion battling with sheer feminine appreciation in her mind, and brought her errant self firmly to order.

Meghada quickly ushered Lynn in, with Goniff jumping up to give her the chair while he plopped down on a couple of big pillows on the floor.

"Ei, Lynn. W'at's that about a fire at the pub?"

And she related the story while Meghada got another glass, an extra saucer and napkin so Lynn could share in that assortment of goodies on the low table off to the side - salted nuts, sugar and spice nuts, tiny pastries, squares of cheese and tiny jam tarts, and for some bizarre reason, tiny breaded peppers stuffed with bleu cheese that were hot enough to start a fire of their own. She took only one nibble of the latter, in defiance of Craig's firm headshake of warning, and Goniff's urgent "Lynn, you really don't want . . ."; afterwards she ruefully noticed only Meghada partook of those, eating them as if they were bonbons! It took a long time before her own eyes stopped watering and her mouth stopped raging at her for ignoring their warnings. She was pretty sure she'd had smoke coming out of her ears for awhile there.

The record came to an end, Meghada changed it to something far less sultry, something with more of a big band sound.

"So, I was wondering if I might stay here for the night," she finished. That quick flicker of glances between the three made her continue quickly, "oh, not in HERE. You mentioned you'd set up the far cottage as a guest room; I thought I might rack up there til morning?" She wasn't sure just what that exchange had been about, but suddenly that guest room sounded much more plausible than the Murphy bed. {"After all, if Goniff was intending to stay with Meghada, that would be ever so awkward. Though I still don't understand Craig's presence."} 

"I was headed back to the Mansion, Lynn; you can come with me and sleep in your regular room there," Craig began, when Meghada interrupted him.

"Craig, I'd be pleased if she initiates my new guest room. She'll be a good judge, tell me if there's anything I've overlooked. I'd appreciate that; you know I'd be content with just a bed and a lamp, so althought I've made the effort, I might still have a few tweeks that would be appropriate for visitors. And besides, she needs to change out of those clothes and get into something that doesn't smell like a kippered herring! You two just got here; sit back and enjoy your drink. Relax; we'll be back in a bit," and the redhead gathered Lynn under her wing, saw her through a warm shower and shampoo, handed her clean and comfortable clothes to wear, and brought her back to have another drink and join in the conversation, which was now turned in the direction of 'friends' who trashed your flat, and substitute Handlers who didn't have a clue and who would be put to better use as traffic control. 

The night grew later, and Lynn was quite content and at ease, wondering now just why she'd thought there was something slightly off about the whole scene. She'd been laughing at one of Goniff's stories of the last bit of sheer mischief he and the guys had gotten up to, all unbeknownst to their leader, one Lieutenant Craig Garrison, had glanced over at Craig to see how he was taking all that, and froze, stunned at what she saw in her brother's eyes as he watched the pickpocket telling the tale - the warmth, the indulgence, the . . . {"Oh My God!!"} A quick look over at Goniff caught him returning that look, amusement, teasing, and oh my lord, an intimacy of a level she'd rarely seen before between ANY two people {"other than David and Stella, and they were on their honeymoon!"}.

She shifted her eyes to Meghada, afraid of what she'd see in those gold-brown eyes. {"With her temper, with how she feels about Goniff, how is she going to react . . .??!"} when she realized she was being unbelieveably dense. Had she really imagined Meghada didn't know, hadn't seen what was between those two? There was nothing more unlikely! No, instead of anger or shock or jealousy, there was a warm understanding. More even, there was love, when she looked at Goniff; deep affection when she looked at Craig - an comfortable acceptance for what was there. Lynn gulped silently. 

"Meghada, I think I'll turn in now. Can you walk me over?"

And Meghada rose, laughing, "and will you be wanting room service in the morning? If so, what time?"

"Oh, I'll be out and gone before you're awake, I'm sure. I do have to get back to London; I shan't wake you, or even step foot in here. I'll get my car, first thing, and head off; I'll get coffee and breakfast at one of the markets along the way."

While it wasn't a definitive address to her brother and Goniff, telling them they could just pretend she wasn't here, still it got the message across. At least, Meghada was pretty sure of what the message really was, Goniff might guess, and, if things went as usual, Craig would be in denial for some time. For such an intelligent man, sometimes . . .

Meghada unlocked the door, shut it behind them, and flipped on the lights. The blackout shades had been left in place so there was no danger of Jerry spotting them from above.

"Lynn . . ." Meghada hesitated, not quite sure just what should, needed to be said. She needn't have worried. Lynn had a smile that combined amazement and pure glee.

"I've never seen him like that, you know, even as a boy. It's like he's just a regular person! Meghada, he's warm, he's relaxed, he's HAPPY! He's always thought he had to be so, well, so buttoned up! Proper officer and a gentleman, perfect in every way, just like our abominable parents insisted he should be. Almost as much as Kevin Richards tries to be. You ARE good with this, aren't you?" Lynn asked, now just a trifle anxious.

Meghada grinned, "perfectly. And you're right; it's a good look for him. He was always handsome, of course, but in a rather cold way. Now, well, I think it's much an improvement." 

Lynn's lips quivered, "oh my god, Meghada!" and laughter poured forth like it had been building up inside and just had to escape. "Goniff!! Of all people!! It's purely wonderful, you know! He is going to be so good for Craig! The perfect balance! The guys don't know, do they?"

"Perhaps Chief, but not the others, at least I don't think Actor knows, and I'm sure Casino doesn't. You know Casino, he'd have to be bludgeoned over the head with the facts before he'd take the blinders off. For someone with such . . ." Meghada caught herself short of over-sharing about Casino's wide diversification of reading material; she didn't know that was something Lynn really needed to know. "Well, anyway, they seem to be managing the situation quite well elsewhere, and here, here they can be themselves. And yes, I think Goniff will be good for Craig, but it works the same in reverse. I think Craig will be very good for my laddie as well."

Meghada showed her around the quarters, left her to settle in for the night. Meghada heard Lynn chuckling once more as they parted company for the night. If Lynn wondered about the exact dynamic of the whole Craig/Goniff/Meghada thing, she had no intention of asking for details. At least, not any time soon.

The men were waiting for her, more than a hint of awkwardness evident in the room. Garrison looked at her closely, "should I leave?"

"Not at all," Meghad assured him. "As she said, she'll be up and gone quite early, by dawn anyway. She's already said she won't even poke her head in here to tell me goodbye for fear of waking me. No, she's settled in for the night, and we might as well be also. One last nightcap?"

There was only warmth shared, no passion, at least on Garrison's side, as Craig was still very conscious of his sister sleeping in that far cottage. Still, warmth shared was far more than he'd had most of his life, and he relished the experience.

Soon however, the rising heat from the other side of the bed proved too tempting, and {"anyway, Lynn's a full two cottages away; sound won't travel that far,"} he justified to himself, as he moved to help those flames rise even higher. 

Later, listening in the darkness for those soft mutterings from the ashen-haired man at his side, to the equally soft murmurs from Meghada as if in answer, he smiled to himself, {"even if it had just been the warmth, it would have been enough."}

Tiptoeing past the first two cottages the next morning, Lynn wondered if she'd imagined all of that, if all the smoke from the day before had befuddled her. As she eased her way out that metal gate, she walked the few steps necessary to confirm. Yes, Craig's jeep was still there. She used extreme self-restraint, holding in her giggles, then her outright laughter til she was in her car and gone. Smoke and fire - a very good description of her day; she'd never think of that phrase 'where there's smoke, there's fire' in quite the same way again.

She pulled her mind back to other matters, such as her ravaged flat. Those two 'friends' had better damned well have it back in order, or she'd show THEM some smoke and fire!


End file.
